‘Suits’ Midseason Premiere Review: ‘Enough is Enough’

Last night Suits resumed its fourth season exactly where we left off: Louis had learned the truth about Mike and immediately used it as leverage to demand not only his job back, but a named partnership to go with it. One by one, Harvey, Mike and Rachel each got a dose of Louis’ wrath (which he’d already unleashed on Donna and Jessica in the midseason finale). Even though Jessica quickly agreed to Louis’ terms as expected, Louis continued to make everyone’s lives miserable throughout the episode.

“Enough is Enough” was an intense hour that brought out an ugly side of Louis Litt. As someone who has constantly defended him over the years as a man who was just desperate to sit at the cool kids’ table so he could be part of the fun, I had a hard time finding any sympathy for him. So I can only imagine how people who already disliked Louis felt. I do understand where he’s coming from: everyone he loves and trusts lied to him and he feels like he was played for the fool. But no one likes or respects a bully and without his trademark vulnerability, that’s exactly what Louis was in this episode.

The initial ranting at Harvey, Jessica, Mike and even Rachel was justified in my book. They all stood back quietly and let Louis fall on his sword when he did something terrible, even though they’re throwing stones from their glass houses. He has a right to be mad at them for letting him torpedo his career. Jessica could have forgiven him or at the very least let him keep his job, but she would have fired Louis if he hadn’t resigned. Harvey and Mike at least tried to help him get a job with Robert Zane, but that’s not the same thing as going to bat for a friend when he needed it most. Rachel chose to lie to him to protect Mike and I don’t blame her for that because she loves him, but Louis no longer trusting her is a reasonable consequence of her actions.

Unfortunately, Louis didn’t just leave things there. He got vindictive and downright cruel. When he couldn’t break Mike by forcing him to do paralegal work, he went after Rachel. Making her to do paralegal work was bad enough, but then he attacked her self-esteem and her capabilities as a lawyer. He knows Rachel well enough to know all of her vulnerable spots and he went after them until she was reduced to tears. That would be cold coming from anyone, but it was a million times worse from someone like Louis – someone who is used to being on that end of bullying. Louis justified his actions by claiming everyone else made him into this man with their lies, but that’s a tough pill to swallow. If Louis truly hated these people, he would have called the police and gleefully watched their takedown from his new office at a rival law firm.

Instead, Louis wanted to stay and play puppet master. The named partnership wasn’t enough. He wanted Harvey and Jessica to sell it to the board as the greatest thing ever. That wasn’t enough either. He wanted pomp and circumstance and an unveiling ceremony for his name on the wall even though the firm had never done that for anyone in the past. He wanted them to fire Mike. He basically wanted everyone to grovel at his feet until the end of days and that’s not the Louis Litt who I’ve rooted for all these years. This new version is not someone I care to know and that’s why I was practically cheering when Jessica beat him at his own game.

She’d had Mike draw up the new partnership agreement, but Jessica added an addendum at the last minute. If Louis signed it, he acknowledged that he was a conspirator in perpetrating the fraud of Mike being a lawyer. Jessica used his arrogance against him because she knew that he wouldn’t give up the partnership for anything. He’d used his leverage and she made sure it was a one-time thing because once he signed the papers he was just as guilty as the rest of them (Jessica Pearson, BAMF). And since all Louis has ever wanted was to be included now he is, but he’s even less a part of the group than he was before and that is his own fault.

Can Louis be redeemed? It’s possible. Good writing can fix just about anything and these actors are certainly up to the task. But I don’t want to see it happen anytime soon. And as much as I hate to say this because I love Queen Donna, I don’t like how hard she’s trying to be Louis’ friend again. I’m happy she said she would do it again and reminded Louis that her professional loyalty will always be to Harvey, but she doesn’t need a friend like Louis. She threw him an olive branch early in the episode and he still abused Rachel, who is also Donna’s friend. I really don’t like that Louis asked her such a personal question or the fact that she answered it honestly. I know she wants to make things right, but there was something really weird and almost demeaning about that moment.

Elsewhere in the episode, Jeff put two and two together and knew Louis had to have something pretty major on Jessica for her to make him named partner. Jessica finally agreed to let him in on the secret, but instead of telling him about Mike, she told him about covering Daniel Hardman’s crimes. That was a smart move on her part. But I’m guessing sooner or later this relationship is going to go down in flames because of the weight of the other secret. I just hope it doesn’t end with Jeff learning the truth because too many people know about Mike at this point.

One of my favorite moments in the episode came when Mike snapped at Jessica after she threw his secret in his face for the millionth time. He pointed out that it’s just as much her secret because she could have fired him and she didn’t. She used him when she needed him and then she still kept him around and she can’t keep using it as leverage. Jessica realized he was right and said as much to Harvey in a later scene. I’m glad Mike stood up to her and I love the parallel that came when she basically told Louis the same thing with the partnership deal. It might have started out as Mike and Harvey’s secret, but at this point, everyone who knows is just as guilty as they are.

Robert Zane continued to be the worst when he threatened to dig into why Louis suddenly became partner unless Harvey did him a favor. The favor was getting Scotty to settle a case against him. It put her in a bad spot because she’d been trying to make a name for herself at a new firm, but Harvey had no choice so he used the guilt card. I might not ship them (Team Donna), but I felt terrible for Scotty when she told him that she loved him and would have kept the secret forever if he’d trusted her enough to tell her sooner. She made it clear this was the one and only time Harvey could pull this card with her (definitely the theme of the appropriately named episode) and then she walked away. I don’t think anyone came out of this episode feeling good about anything.

Next week, Louis continues to push his boundaries and make everyone angry at him (sounds about right).